Advanced Courses

Preceptorship Courses

Apply now to join one of our Preceptorship courses!

Workshops & Courses

ESMO fosters the advancement of cancer research by supporting clinical trials workshops to inspire young oncologists from different disciplines across the globe to become the next generation of active researchers.

Patient Guides

Guides for Patients are designed to assist patients, their relatives and caregivers to better understand the nature of different types of cancer and evaluate the best available treatment choices

Personalised Medicine Explained

Video interviews and articles designed to help patients, policy makers and other non-medical professionals better understand the principles of personalised cancer medicine

Getting the Most out of Your Oncologist

Now available in Romanian, our Guide for Patients with Advanced Cancer is designed for patients, their family members and oncologists.

Designated Centres of Integrated Oncology and Palliative Care

The ESMO Designated Centres of Integrated Oncology and Palliative Care accreditation programme recognises cancer centres which provide comprehensive services in supportive and palliative care as part of their routine care.

EFPIA Disclosure Code

Policy News

Welcome to OncologyPRO, the home of ESMO’s educational and scientific resources, with Guidelines, a comprehensive list of E-Learning modules, Factsheets on biomarkers, slides and webcasts from our educational programme, and more... to support continuing medical education and daily practice!

It is intended for use in patients who have received a prior anti-angiogenic therapy

On 23 November, 2015 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab (Opdivo) to treat patients with advanced (metastatic) renal cell carcinoma, who have received a prior anti-angiogenic therapy.

“Opdivo provides an important therapy option for patients with renal cell carcinoma,” said Dr Richard Pazdur, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “It is one of few therapies that have demonstrated the ability to extend patients’ survival in treating this disease.”
Temsirolimus (Torisel), approved in 2007, is the only other FDA-approved therapy that has demonstrated overall survival in renal cell cancer.

Opdivo is a monoclonal antibody that binds to the PD-1 receptor and blocks its interaction with PD-L1 and PD-L2. By blocking the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway, Opdivo may help the body’s immune system fight cancer cells. Opdivo is intended for use in renal cell carcinoma in patients who have received prior anti-angiogenic therapy.

The safety and efficacy of Opdivo for this use were demonstrated in an open-label, randomised study of 821 patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma whose disease worsened during or after treatment with an anti-angiogenic agent. Patients were treated with Opdivo or everolimus (marketed as Afinitor).

Patients treated with Opdivo had a median overall survival of 25 months compared to 19.6 months in those treated with Afinitor. This effect was observed regardless of the PD-L1 expression level of patients’ renal cell tumours. Additionally, 21.5% of those treated with Opdivo experienced a complete or partial shrinkage of their tumours, which lasted an average of 23 months, compared to 3.9% of those taking Afinitor, lasting an average of 13.7 months.

The most common side effects of Opdivo for this use are asthenic conditions, cough, nausea, rash, dyspnoea, diarrhoea, constipation, decreased appetite, back pain and arthralgia.

Opdivo also has the potential to cause severe immune-mediated side effects that involve healthy organs.

The FDA granted the Opdivo application a breakthrough therapy designation, fast track designation, and priority review status. These are distinct programmes intended to facilitate and expedite the development and review of certain new drugs in light of their potential to benefit patients with serious or life-threatening conditions.

Opdivo is marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb based in Princeton, New Jersey.

Torisel is marketed by Pfizer, based in New York, New York.

Afinitor is marketed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals of East Hanover, New Jersey.